Monday, July 11, 2016

There was a mist of sadness that floated over the city of Athenon. 
Athenon was his home town.

He had visited Athenon just a few minutes ago, but that was in his scale of time. For the ordinary mortals of Athenon it was 7 years ago. For him, it was amazing how the city changed its colors n outlook so quickly. 
Suddenly, he fell into a deep chasm of guilt and fear, for, his sixth sense told him that the reason why Athenons were sad was him. It was something that he said or did, but he just couldnt get around to remembering it.

Athenon was where he still had friends. it was his rock of Gibraltor. It was the place where he would always come back to. It was the constant in his equation, the one that he could always rely on. In his trips across multiple galaxies and parallel universes, reality and imagination often used to get melded into a cosmic pot pourri. In the midst of all that chaos, it was the familiar sounds from Athenon that saved the day and helped him keep his sanity and his foot grounded on reality. Athenon was the safe and warm place where he could go hide to escape from the thunderstorm. It reminded him of his child hood, his best friends and loved ones. But now, there was nothing familiar about the place. 

Anxiety started spreading through his brain cells, like a forest fire on a hot dry windy day. It swept through his mind conquering most of his adamant and resilient cellsnumbing the remaining ones. He felt like someone just took his mind and placed it upside in a cocktail shaker and kept shaking.  His started exploding with numb pain. He had to escape. There were no exits from this dark and damp world. It reminded him of the dark green and cold and thick forests of pacific North west. He had to escape, but he kept swirling down into a dark spiral. The more he struggled the stronger the fire of anxiety raged on in his mind. 

At the end of the tunnel there was no light or there was no sign of an end for the tunnel..an endless black hole. He was going through that so fast that he could hear the sounds from the entire universe melded into a single frequency and then all of sudden a familiar sweet sound started flowing into his brain and it started distracting his mind from all the anxiety. It slowed down his pace. He felt the tide turning.

His visions became more and more real. He started receiving emotions from his trips into his senses .
While mammoth hunting with his tribe members, he could feel the smelly breath of the mammoth when he narrowly escaped from its swishing trunk. He could feel the flaps of its wide ears reverberating in his heart.   In another world he was running through the forest, trying to escape from enemy tribe members. He would start wondering if their arrows have any venom. He would feel the searing pain spreading through his shoulder when they eventually find their target. It would trigger his panic cycle again, fueling the anxiety.


Saturday, February 20, 2016

yawnn...

Another long hiatus and another round of reading through old posts..it never ceases to amaze me how much we change over time...and it gives a chance to reminisce who we used to be...

Friday, July 19, 2013

Lost in Transiition?

Transition is a difficult and weird phase in life, especially from one relationship to another.
What I am going to say will make sense to you only if you have ever had chicken pox in your life.

In the last phase of this virus attack(yeah its a virus , like the one that causes lovearia - Courtesy: SRK in RBGG ), you have blisters all over your body. You are just waiting for the last of them to heal and drop off by themselves. You have a terrible itch to just pluck them off your back, but then that will leave you scarred for a lifetime.So you wait patiently for them to go through the due process of growing bigger, uglier and then finally wither away, so that you can go back into the world as a free man. Thank god for time - for it heals all.!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Keep Walking !!

There is something about walking !. Something nostalgic. Something that shows a higher sense of purpose. Something that portrays the protagonist as no ordinary human. Remember Gandhiji's great walk to Dandi. They say that  if you need something badly, you would climb mountains and swim across oceans for it. In cinematic language, this often gets loosely translated as 'Walking/Running' long distances.

Think Tom Hanks in 'Forest Gump' and forget immediately because apparently he didn't know why he kept running :P.

Let's try Jude Law in 'Cold Mountain' - walking miles and miles to get back to his Love. No questions asked. It was during the Civil War and he was a renegade soldier. So he had to stay away from both the 'Yankees' and 'Southerners'. Good enough reason to walk/trek back home.

Now, What about Shah Rukh Khan in 'My Name is Khan'. He was seen walking along deserted roads, deserts and some other very lonely stretches. Why did he have to walk - I often ask myself. Was he saving on cash? He was pretty well off when the journey began. Then, did he just feel like walking? Considering his aim was to spread the word that he was not a Terrorist,  I would think the faster you reach out to people, the faster you spread the message. May be KJo thought that the lonely walker image would give a push to some tear glands.(Sorry SRK fans - Nothing against SRK/MNIK, just quoting an example of misusing the 'lonely walker' motif)

Then there is 'The way back' - A few prisoners escape from a Siberian Prison during WW II and walk all the way to India. 4000 miles - Driven by the innate instinct to be 'Free', they walked through Frozen lakes, Forests, Mountains, Deserts, Communists and of course, the Himalayas. The true hero of the movie is the 'walk'. The characters play side kick to the great walk. At the end, the walk wins but not all the walkers win. There are no big surprises in the movie, but the 'walk' makes it a compelling watch.

Emile Hirsch  too did a lot of walking in 'Into the Wild'. He leaves no stone unturned in his aim of pitting himself against the harshest  nature. Walking was just a means to his end. Anyways, can't help saying this -  How amazing it would have been if Christopher McCandless had lived to tell the tale.

Recently, Zac Efron walked all the way from 'Colorado' to 'Louisiana' in 'The Lucky One', that too, with a dog. All that, to trace a girl, whose picture miraculously saved him during combat. But, the walk gets over quickly, under the cover of 'titles' .Apparently he walked 'cos he simply 'likes' walking.
Again, no hurry to find the girl he so desperately wants to meet?? So, he was made to walk, just to get some beautiful locales for the 'titles'?? Hmm...


Some of the 'Johhny Walker' ads does of good job of equating 'Walking' to 'progress' and they exhort  the human race to 'Keep Walking' with soulful music in the background and many of us comply immediately with a 'cheers' !!

Well, let's Keep walking..I guess it is good for the health - ours and the planet's :)


Saturday, December 04, 2010

Actually....

...i like long flights. i haven't met anyone who feels the same way.
For me its a lot of personal lazy time. No phones, No emails. Cut off from the world. Just a good book with lots of wine and food. Or may be a few movies. A good nap. A time to listen to music and think about random stuff. A walk along the aisle. A couple of drinks with strangers. An occasional peek out of the window - into icy arctic sky , an out of the worldly sun in the horizon , a faraway jet blinking its way through or a glittering city. To top it all - the sudden acceleration and deceleration of take off and touch downs -it thrills me.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

DCH recap

Spotting dolphins off Long Island

Lightning on Statue of Liberty

US Open 2010 - Djokovic Vs Blake

Sunday, July 25, 2010

one of these days i had a glimpse of heaven... just like that

i was 20,000 ft up in the air...looking out of the window i could see the mighty western ghats covered in a green carpet...the valley was submerged in a huge lake which glistened in the morning rays of sunlight.

Needless to say it was magical...

and i had breakfast in front me, served by a beautiful air hostess...i took a bite and sat back...i looked my beautiful wife ..she had already digged half-way through her breakfast and was working on the rest with religious enthusiasm.

Though, these aren't all the likely ingredients for nirvana, it was a moment of serentiy. i was at peace, with myself and the world. everything felt right or i didnt care about anything?
but i smiled to myself savoring that moment of bliss..